


The Story That Isn't A Story

by thisandthat



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hannibal - Freeform, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-11-02 22:29:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10954020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisandthat/pseuds/thisandthat





	1. Chapter 1

Her car came to a skidding halt in front of Will‘s house. Jimmy had called her a few minutes prior, tipping her off about what had supposedly happened. She immediately jumped into her car.

Out of her side window she saw Jack Crawford and several FBI agents, in the middle of them was Frederick. Was he wearing handcuffs? She tumbled out of the car, she could not get the seatbelt off fast enough, and run towards the little crowd as fast as the deep snow allowed her. As she was approaching she could see that Frederick‘s hands were indeed bound tight in front of him. A FBI agent blocked her way, holding up his hand: ”Miss, you cannot go any further!” ”The hell I can‘t! What do you think you‘re doing?!”, she inquired from Jack as she was going to stand in front of Frederick. 

She took his hands in hers. They were ice cold. She then fully looked at him. He wasn‘t wearing one of his suits as usual but was clad in dark blue jeans, a black cardigan and red checked jacket. His clothes and hair were wet from when he fell into the snow. His face was bright red. She brought her right hand to his cheek, him leaning into her hand slightly. Like she feared, just as cold as his hands. ”What happened?”, she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

No one, apart from Jimmy, knew that her and Frederick got close in the last few months since she started to work in the forensic science department. Not romantically, mind you, but she at least hoped that they had become good friends. After starting her job, she soon realised that people around her were not really fond of him, to say the least, making up all kinds of stories about him. Still, for her, Frederick was first and foremost a forensic scientist, as distinguished one in his field at that. 

So, yes, when she first met him in his office to talk about behavioural analysis in order for her to better understand how criminals might tick, she was quite frankly scared. However, it soon became clear that she did not need to be. He was a bit - how should she describe it? - aloof at first but once she made clear that she is genuinely looking for his expert opinion and guidance, his demeanour changed. They had quite a nice conversation and she stayed longer than she anticipated, longer than he initially told her he would have time for her. From then on she went to him quite often but Frederick did not seem to mind. Quite the opposite actually, always eager to give his opinion on issues she asked him about.


	3. Chapter 3

A shudder brought her back to the present. Frederick was shivering. How she would have loved to put his tied hands over her form and hug him but she could not. Instead she opted to run her hands up and down his arms trying to provide as much comfort and warmth as she could in this situation. 

"I...I... Hannibal...", Frederick could not get the words out. She frowned, Hannibal? "Dr Chilton is the Chesapeake Ripper!", Jack Crawford interrupted him with disdain in his voice. "Don't be ridiculous, Frederick couldn't do that." No, he could not, morally but also physically he would not be able to attack someone, let alone kill them. Not after what Abel Gideon did to him. She knew Frederick was still in physical therapy and could not walk or stand for a longer period of time. And she told Jack so. "He did not have any problems letting me chase him through the woods." "That's probably because you were pointing a gun at him! Am I right?!" She continued to yell at Jack: "He was scared for his life!" "So were his victims", he countered. He gesticulated to some of his agents to get Frederick into one of the police cars.

"No!", she said. Setting caution aside she hugged him tightly, promising him that she would do anything in her power to get him out of this. What else could she do? Frederick only nodded. Why did he not say something? Anything?, she wondered. He looked so defeated. Had he already given up? She then decided to whisper something into his ear. Something only he understood. It made him smile, if only a bit. 

She gently took his face into her heads, running her thumbs over his cheek bones. In the last few months she started to care for Frederick deeply, so now him being driven away in a police car, him looking back at her, the fear in his green eyes clearly visible, broke her heart.

The call that Frederick had been shot and was in critical condition came two hours later.


	4. Chapter 4

She awoke from a chair being pulled closer. She must have dozen off. ”What happened?“, Frederick, having sat beside her hospital bed, asked voice laced with worry. She scratched her forehead and sighed. ”One of the machines had a short circuit and I got an electric shock.” Frederick gently took one of her hands in his. “Well, your heart rate is a bit elevated”, he said, again in this worried tone. ”That‘s because you‘re holding my hand, Doctor.” That got a smile out of Frederick. She returned his smile: ”I‘m fine.” That got her a raised eyebrow. ”Really. They hooked me up to the ECG just to be sure“, she assured him. ”How did you know I was here?” ”I was consulting with Jack on a case. On my way out I overheard Price and Zeller talk about what happened. So...so of course I came right over.” He ducked his head.

That was when the doctors entered the room. They told her that she could go home, granted that someone stayed with her for the night. She replied that she lived alone.   
”You can stay with me.”, Frederick was still looking down. Wait what? She looked at Frederick uncertain if he really wanted that. ”I mean”, he reeled back and his head shot up, ”only if you‘d like. I have a big house and ... and of, of course you can stay in the guest room.” ”Thanks, Frederick.” She laid her hand on his and smiled. So did he.

It was only in the early afternoon so they agreed that Frederick would go back to work to finish up some things and she would go home to get some clothes. But not after she assured him several times that she was really ok to go home by herself first. She did not like hospitals so the first thing she did when she came home was to take a long hot shower. And if she spent extra time on her hair and make up to look decent for Frederick, who could have blamed her? When she was packing her things, her mind wandered to Frederick. Even though he opened up more often, he was still guarded, so him letting someone into his house was a huge step, she gathered. Anyway, she shook her head, she enjoyed spending time with him. That was clear. She was pulled out of her thoughts by her phone alerting her to a new message. Frederick informed her of his address and that he just arrived home. 

When she drove into the gated community she was not sure if she got the right address. When she stopped the car in front of his house she was absolutely sure that she got the wrong address. ”I have a big house.” Well, he was not exaggerating when he said that.


	5. Chapter 5

They were making their way back down the stairs, Frederick ever the gentleman letting her walk down first, when she heard a weird noise behind her and a gasp from Frederick. As she turned around she saw him holding on to the rail as if it was his life line. His upper body was slightly bend forwards and he looked shaken, he must have caught himself from falling. “Oh my God, Frederick! Are you ok?” She quickly took the few steps up to him and held him by his waist and arm. “‘m fine!”, he mumbled. “Are you hurt?” He grumbled something unintelligible. “OK, where is your cane?” Frederick mumbled that he would not need it. She sighed and said in a soothing tone “Listen...”. Frederick was slowly making his way past her down the rest of the stairs. “Is that the moment you‘re telling me that everything will be alright?”, he said in a mocking tone. She followed him into the kitchen. “No, because platitudes isn‘t what you need to hear right now.”, she smiled at him. He just looked at her with big eyes, “Thank you.” “So, you promised me tea?” He was still looking at her in wonder. “Frederick?”, she asked gently. He blushed slightly, “Ehm, yeah sure”. As he went through his cupboards, she looked around. “I know.” “Mmmh?”, she turned to him. “I know it‘s not very homey. The interior designer thought it looked nice. I‘m hardly here anyway. And I live alone so...”, Frederick rambled. “Hey.”, she put her hand on his forearm. “I like your house.”, she smiled gently at him. Frederick first looked at her hand on his arm and then at her. She immediately took her hand off his arm. “I‘m sorry! I didn‘t mean to...” “No, no.” He took her hand into hers. “I didn‘t mind. I mean...”, Frederick cleared his throat, looking at their intertwined hands. “I mean I liked it. If you don‘t mind?”, he looked into her eyes. She squeezed his hand softly. “I don‘t mind at all.”, she smiled at him. They both jumped apart at the noise of the tea kettle and then burst out laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

Once they got their tea they were standing in the kitchen, unsure what to do next.

“So...”, she smiled cheekily at him. “Will you read me some of your book that I heard so much about?”

Frederick looked anywhere but at her. “I...I don‘t want to bore you. And as a doctor I advise that you should lay down.” She smirked at him. Challenge accepted.

“Frederick, please!”, she pouted. “Of course, I would like to hear more about your book. You can‘t just tease me like that.” 

Frederick‘s eyes started to shine and he mulled the thought over. “I suppose you could lay down on the couch in the office...” She did not wait what he still had to say. “Great!”, she took his hand and started pulling him up the stairs.

Once in his office, Frederick settled her on the couch with a blanket. The sun had already started to set so he lit a fire. She cuddled into the blanket and watched him as he was reading from his book, glasses on. It was really cozy and she felt good being with him. She felt safe and the day slowly started to catch up with her. Before she knew it she was out, lulled to sleep by Frederick‘s voice and the crackling of the fire.

An hour later she was blinking away. For a few seconds she did not know where she was. Her eyes following the clicking noise to Frederick typing away on his computer. 

“Hey.”, she said slightly groggily.

He took of his glasses and smiled at her. 

“How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”, she stretched herself. As she was looking back at him he looked kind of concerned. She looked at him puzzled. “What is it?”, she asked gently. Frederick sighed.

“Actually there was something else I wanted to ask you.” 

“Sure, go ahead.“

Frederick started fidgeting with his pen. He turned his chair to the window, facing away from her. 

She pushed the blanket away from her and slowly, feeling a bit dizzy, made her away over to Frederick. She put her hands on the back of the chair and slowly turned Frederick back to her. He had to smile a bit at her actions. 

“Maybe... I mean when you are feeling better... then maybe we could have dinner... We are going to have dinner now.... But once you are feeling better then maybe you would like to accompany me to a proper dinner.“

She beamed at him. “Of course. I would love to.”

A few days later she received Jimmy‘s phone call that would change their life.


	7. Chapter 7

Present day...

After he woke up he distanced himself from me. And I understood. To some extent. I just missed him so much. One cannot expect someone to be the same after they went through what Frederick did. He had to come to terms with what happened. But you know when you are told that someone is alright but you just want to see for yourself? I wanted to hold him, making sure he was still there. But then if I was being honest with myself, what would I have said to him if I finally saw him. How would I console him? What was there to say? Sorry? It is going to be fine? 

For days I spent all of my free-time sitting by his side and hoping for him to wake up. The nurses eventually gave up trying to send me home. I would hold his hand letting him know he was not alone. I would even read one of those infuriating psychiatry journals to him. I was hoping for him to wake up telling me I mispronounced half of the words. To no avail. So I would keep him updated about everything that happened. I would tell him what we could do on our date. Every time I had to leave I would gently kiss his hand, promising him to come back soon. 

After he was well enough to be moved, he got transferred to a private clinic for reconstructive surgery and physical therapy. He even went to Switzerland for a while. And even though it hurt me deeply not to be able to see him, it was not about me. I just wanted him to get better. One day I was folding my laundry when the phone started ringing on my bed. It took me a few seconds but then I realised the ringtone. It was his. I let everything fall and dashed to the bed. Yes, the name that I feared I would never see again was flashing up. ”Frederick?”, I answered the phone out of breath.

”I...”, he cleared his throat. ”I am standing in front of ... the house. And I cannot, I just cannot...” His voice broke. 

”Stay where you are, I‘ll be right over.”


	8. Chapter 8

I was driving as fast as was safely possible. Arriving at Frederick‘s house I saw some moving vans in the drive way. The movers themselves were standing in front of the vans, some of them were smoking. A man was standing on the grass looking up at the house. I parked my car behind the vans and got out. 

Was that Frederick? As I was walking towards the man he turned around. As our eyes met, time stopped. In a few seconds I took in his appearance. His cane was gone, he gained some weight back. He still had a little bit of gauze over his cheek. And yet, Frederick looked absolutely forlorn. I stood a few steps away from him, not knowing if he would want me to get any closer. But as Frederick‘s gaze moved down and he shuffled slightly, I closed the distance between us quickly and engulfed him in my arms. 

I did not know what to say to him in that moment. As I felt him pulling me to himself, I understood. I did not need to say anything. Holding him was enough. When we let go of each other I moved a strand of hair from Frederick‘s forehead, taking in his face, searching for his eyes. He immediately looked down and whispered: “I... About not being...” 

“I know.” Frederick sighed. “Come here.”, I put my arms around him again. 

“Dr. Chilton? We would be ready now.”

We let go of each other. Even though Frederick had hired people to move most of his belongings into storage, some things he wanted to get himself. I could understand that after the FBI turned his house upside down he did not want more people touching his belongings. 

After we stepped into the foyer we just stood there with the movers swarming around us. Frederick stared at the entrance to the kitchen. I looked up the staircase. “Is what you wanted to get in your study?” No answer. I turned to Frederick who was alternating between staring at the entrance to the kitchen and staring at the staircase leading down to the cellar. When I moved to take his hand he flinched. We looked at each other startled and both apologised at the same time. “Oh my God, I wasn't thinking. I‘m SO sorry.” “No, no, it is alright. I simply did not expect it. Yes, there are some belongings in my study and in my bedroom that I would like to get.”

The upstairs was just as in much disarray as what we saw of the rooms downstairs. I left Frederick to get his stuff from his bedroom. I waited in the study to give him some space. Every possible drawer was open, some were thrown onto the ground. Books were strewn around, some open, as well as loose sheets of papers having been thrown everywhere. As I started putting the books back in order my eyes welled up with tears. I could not fathom what Frederick must feel like right now. He did not deserve all of this. 

“Are you alright?”, I heard Frederick softly ask from the door way. 

I laughed through my tears. “You are asking ME if I‘m alright?” I sniffled.

He entered his office, “Normally I would come up with a sassy remark but I cannot.” 

“Ehm, would you like me to step outside so you can...”, I started to get up but Frederick made a motion with his hand.

“Please stay.”, he smiled at me.

As Frederick was going through his belongings a thought hit me. I kneeled down next to him, helping him sorting some papers. “Where are you staying right now?”

“I rented a small apartment close to town.” He stopped what he was doing and kept staring at the floor. 

“Frederick?” I whispered. I did not want to startle him again.

“It is just that...”

There was a knock by the door.


End file.
